Taking Risks

There are always risks in anything that you do. Think about it. It can be as simple as deciding not to carry an umbrella when you know it could rain or a bit more difficult like telling a friend the truth when you know there is a risk that it might ruin your friendship. You want to make decisions and be confident in them and hope you have established yourself with enough credibility to have people trust you and your choices.

Thom Yorke is my hero because I think he is taking the biggest risk there is in his business and my devotion to his music has multiplied ten-fold. As the lead singer of Radiohead, he has made yet another milestone in the music industry but this time in its business model. The band’s latest album, “In Rainbows,” is due for a 2008 release, however, it is actually quite available now and no, I don’t mean by illegal downloading. The album has been released on inrainbows.com and get this…you can download the album for whatever price you want to pay for the music!

Currently operating without a record label, the band is providing its product directly to the people without losing money to middlemen and without piracy worries. This way of thinking is creative, innovative, but above all RISKY!

Radiohead doesn’t know if this is going to backfire — they don’t know if they are going to make money, lose money, gain fans, or lose fans. They took a step into the unknown but they stand by their decision and they hope they have made themselves indispensable as musicians where a move like this one won’t harm them in the slightest.

Overall, what I am saying here is that you don’t know where some of your decisions are going to lead you. Some of them are going to be mistakes (BIG ONES), some of them are going to be the best choices you have ever made and some may end up backfiring but you need to make them. However, the name of this game is to stick to them. From a public relations standpoint, wishy-washy decisions won’t fly. They confuse, frustrate, and anger! Have enough confidence in yourself and your choices and like I mentioned earlier, hope that you have made an impression as a credible person that people can trust — if you made a poor choice, step up, admit it and fix it. Damage control is never going to be easy. Try a football with the 2007 Chicago Bears’ autographs as penance; I hear that works. — Jennifer Hernandez